Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2016 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

1. What discussions he has had with the incoming US Administration on their policy on article 5 of the NATO treaty.

[Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)]

5. What discussions he has had with the incoming US Administration on their policy on article 5 of the NATO treaty.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Sir Michael Fallon)]

President-elect Trump has confirmed the importance of NATO during telephone calls with the Prime Minister and the NATO Secretary-General. I have written to General James Mattis to congratulate him on his nomination as Secretary of Defence, and I look forward to meeting him after his confirmation hearing.

[Jonathan Reynolds]

General James Mattis has warned against appeasing the Russian regime and has said it is President Putin’s intention to break NATO apart. Does the Secretary of State agree that President-elect Trump would do well to listen to his general and to recommit the US unequivocally not just to NATO but to article 5?

[Sir Michael Fallon]

General Mattis is not only experienced in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan but has served as a NATO commander. He is well aware of the importance of the alliance not only to our security but to the United States itself, and it is the unity of the alliance that sends the most powerful message to President Putin.

Trident

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Tuesday 24th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Defence Procurement (Mr Philip Dunne)]

I am pleased to be able to follow the hon. Member for East Renfrewshire (Kirsten Oswald). I believe that she was making her debut in winding up a debate on behalf of her party, and I congratulate her on that. As she said, this has been a well-informed and at times passionate debate, and rightly so, because the strategic deterrent forms a key part of the Government’s No. 1 priority: the defence of the realm.

The Government are committed to maintaining a minimum credible and assured deterrent, as was clearly stated in the manifesto on which they were elected to govern the whole of the United Kingdom. The hon. Lady argued that we should respect the wishes of the Scottish people, and we should indeed take them into account, but that is the same argument as was advanced by the then leader of the Greater London Council when he declared London to be a nuclear-free zone. No nuclear weapon would have been allowed in this country had his views been entirely respected. That is not an argument that we can respect, because we have responsibility for the government of the United Kingdom as a whole.

We are committed to building four new nuclear-armed submarines to replace the current four Vanguard class submarines, but not to replacing the Trident missile, which is the notional subject of the debate. As was pointed out by the hon. Member for Chesterfield (Toby Perkins), the subject of the debate is not, strictly speaking, what is at stake today, because what we are actually discussing is whether or not to replace the submarine class, rather than the missile system.

Why do we stand by our commitment? First, as the Secretary of State said, this is about being realistic. We do not live in an ideal world, much as we might wish to. Our deterrent is there to deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life. Those threats have not gone away, however much people might wish it were otherwise. The national security review which was published yesterday shows that, if anything, they are growing and becoming more complex and more diverse by the day.

Under the coalition Government, we as a nation took steps to reduce nuclear arsenals, and we have reduced the number of deployed warheads on each submarine from 48 to 40. Other nations with nuclear weapons have not responded to that unilateral action. They need to follow our example, and nations without nuclear weapons should end all notions of obtaining them. Those who wish to gamble with the nation’s security do so with no ability to predict what the world might be like in decades to come.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Dunne]

I am afraid that I have very little time.

Secondly, our deterrent works for us every day, for 365 days and nights each year, thanks to the brave service of so many of our valiant personnel serving on the Vanguard class submarines—and, indeed, the husband of the hon. Member for Glasgow North West (Carol Monaghan), whom she mentioned earlier. I believe that he has now retired from the Royal Navy, but I respect the service that he gave.

The fact that we have a continuous at-sea deterrent sows the seeds of doubt in the minds of our potential adversaries. As was emphasised by my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat) in a powerful speech, continuous at-sea deterrence works because it provides the ability to strike back. It also provides another decision-making centre in the NATO alliance, and complicates and confuses an enemy’s calculations.

Finally, there is no alternative. Notwithstanding the recollection of my friend and former colleague the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael), the 2013 Trident Alternatives Review made it very clear that if we were to have a cost-effective way of delivering the minimum nuclear deterrent, Successor was the only viable solution. Moreover, the ramifications of removing our deterrent would be immense, putting at risk not just our national security and our position in NATO—the cornerstone of our defence—but our economy, our essential skills base, and thousands of jobs across the United Kingdom.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Michael Fallon]

I hope that my hon. Friend, too, will welcome the President of China on his state visit to our country this week, just as we welcomed ships of the Chinese navy on their visit to Portsmouth earlier this year. We welcome the growing military relationship between the armed forces of our two countries. All countries that trade internationally have an interest, as he said, in the peaceful navigation of the South China sea.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Syria is not Iraq or Afghanistan, but this country made some poor decisions in those countries, particularly in Afghanistan, in operational and intelligence matters that we must learn from. Most of all, surely we need to learn from the lack of clarity in our strategic objectives that so badly affected the war in Afghanistan. Listening to the Secretary of State today, I think that such a lack of clarity is still evident when he talks about Syria.

IT Systems (Army Recruitment)

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Tuesday 14th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

Outsourcing services is here to stay. At the cost that regular Army soldiers represent to us, we cannot contemplate using them to perform administrative tasks in the recruitment process in future. Those tasks must be outsourced to be sustainable. We are confident that Capita has a solution. At the outset of the contract, we chose not to adopt the Capita solution, but to go with extant departmental policy, which was to use the existing Atlas platform. We have now reversed that decision for the Army recruiting programme.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Based on the figures the Secretary of State has given today, the original decision to try to integrate the Atlas platform seems strange. When that decision was taken, was there no contingency plan? Given the history of trouble with Government IT projects and the importance of the project, what consideration was given to a contingency plan when the decision was taken?

[Mr Hammond]

The contingency plan was put in place and the fact that there was a risk was clearly recognised at the time. The contracts with both Capita and Atlas were written to allow for a reversion to a Capita-hosted solution if the Department decided that that was necessary. That is what we have done.

Armed Forces

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Tuesday 25th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate. There is an incredible amount of expertise on and passion for the armed forces in Parliament, as we have heard today, and as the secretary of the all-party parliamentary group for the armed forces, it is a privilege for me to be able to see that passion regularly come through in the events that we organise.

I would like to make a few points. They include: the importance of the armed forces as institutions in this country; their changing nature, as the Government seek to replace professional servicemen and women with an increased reserve force following the strategic defence and security review; and the challenges and opportunities that will confront us as we approach the end of over a decade of expeditionary operations.

Since becoming an MP, I have had the opportunity to increase my familiarity with the armed forces, particularly with the Army, a great deal. I have visited British Army Training Unit Suffield in Canada, the armour centre in Bovington, the Army Foundation College for our youngest personnel and, of course, Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. I have spent time everywhere, from my local recruiting office in Manchester to the Defence Academy at Shrivenham. I have done that because if I have to make decisions about voting to deploy British service personnel abroad—putting them in harm’s way—I want to know first hand about the training, equipment and preparation they have received.

The high standard of training and the professional identity of armed forces are extremely impressive. The British armed forces are among the best—if not the best—in the world. I believe that that strength comes from three things: the quality of our recruits, the quality of the training they receive, and the common identity that is instilled in our people by the units themselves and, in particular, the regimental system. I am extremely proud of the regiments associated with my constituency: the Mercians, the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

[Bob Stewart]

Everybody in the House is worried about the recent High Court ruling, which has already been alluded to. It is extremely difficult for commanding officers to make decisions that put their men or women in peril, but now they have to consider whether they might be dragged before a court of law for a decision they make in good faith and in the height of a battle. The House has to sort this out and direct the law accordingly.

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I appreciate that intervention from the hon. and gallant Gentleman, who speaks with particular authority on this matter. I am glad he has had the opportunity to put that on the record, and of course he can give us a greater insight than perhaps anyone else in the House on that point.

The people I represent have tremendous pride and faith in the regiments associated with my constituency, which unfortunately has had to contend with a considerable number of casualties in Afghanistan. I have seen how the regiments continue to support those families and how they become part of their own family, but I do not think that this is widely understood or appreciated by the public. I cannot begin to understand how a family must feel when, knowing that their child is away on operational duty, they open the door to see military personnel standing there and realise that it cannot be good news. When I talk to families in my constituency who have been in that position, I am impressed by how the regiments continue to support them. I believe that all the branches of the armed forces, but particularly the Army, are fundamentally important national institutions, and part of being a one-nation party means promoting those national institutions that bind the country together. The Army is a particularly fine example of such an institution.

The make-up of the Army is changing considerably under the Government’s plans following the strategic defence and security review. The Army will now comprise a smaller regular force and be more dependent on reserves, as we have heard. I have the greatest of respect for our reserve forces, especially given the role they have played in Iraq and Afghanistan, but this will pose substantial challenges. We should carefully consider what the effects might be on our reservists, their families and their employers, particularly if we find ourselves embarking on another military deployment of a similar scale to the one now drawing to an end in Afghanistan.

Let us consider what we ask of our reserves: we expect them to train in their spare time to reach the same standard as full-time professionals; to be prepared to put their civilian lives and civilian jobs on hold for lengthy tours of duty, possibly involving combat; and then to slot back seamlessly into civilian life at the end of it, only perhaps to do the same again within a year. That puts a real strain on people, so I urge the Government to consider whether the harmony guidelines that exist to maintain a balance between time on deployment and ordinary service will still be suitable for a military comprising a greater number of reservists. We might also have to consider stronger statutory protections for reservists who serve on operations and to promote and praise employers who correctly recognise that it is strongly in their interests to support employees who wish to do this.

The SDSR is not the only reason we should give serious thought to our armed forces over the next few years. As we near the end of our involvement in more than a decade of war in Afghanistan, it will soon be an appropriate juncture to ask what lessons we can learn from that deployment. I am not seeking a grandstanding public inquiry or suggesting a political reckoning; I am simply saying that we must critically evaluate how we have fought and managed this difficult conflict. Do we believe, for instance, that the strategic decisions made were the right ones? Did we initially get our force rotation right? Did the frequent change of tactics with each new deployment hinder our initial progress?

We have made real improvements in Afghanistan, but that has come at a great cost to this country in blood and treasure, so we owe it to constituencies such as mine, which have suffered a lot, and to the armed forces as a whole to evaluate the mission critically and to seek to make improvements for the future. We can never do enough to make our people safer, better cared for and better equipped to succeed.

This Saturday, as we celebrate the contribution our armed forces make to our country, hon. Members should consider how we can maintain the identities and institutions that are fundamental to the strength of our armed forces; what new issues we need to address as reservists play an ever greater role; and what we can learn from more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan. I am extremely proud of our armed forces, and I believe we must honour our duties to them as dutifully as they protect us.

Afghanistan

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Wednesday 19th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

I think my hon. Friend might be confusing two things. There are, rather unhelpfully, two separate 4 billions here. There is £4 billion of development aid that was pledged at Tokyo, and there is $4 billion a year of support for the ANSF, of which the United Kingdom has committed about $100 million—around £70 million. We are confident that these sums will be found and that they will be available to the Afghans on an ongoing basis. We have set out our commitment and we do not intend to change from that position.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

Like many hon. Members in the Chamber, I represent several families who have lost their loved ones in Afghanistan over the past decade. That felt like a very optimistic statement from the Secretary of State on the progress we have made. I am a little more sceptical about what it has cost us in human life and treasure for the progress we have made. We would all agree that a political solution is necessary to resolve the conflict, but what assurances can the Secretary of State give us that when we reach that political solution with our draw-down forces, we will be able to maintain the safety of all those Afghans who have been our allies over the past decade, and we will not leave them to the mercy of the elements of the Taliban that we wish to draw into the future government of Afghanistan?

[Mr Hammond]

I do not know whether the hon. Gentleman has visited Afghanistan, but many of his colleagues have. It is not a perfect democracy and it never will be. It will not be the case that the Afghan Government will control every inch of their territory after 2014. There will be messy compromises in some parts of the country. Some will not be under the control of the central Government, and some of the behaviours will not be behaviours of the type that we would put up with here or in any European country, but any of the hon. Gentleman’s colleagues who have been there will tell him that the lives of ordinary Afghans are immeasurably better today than they were five or six years ago, and that is the standard by which we should measure our involvement.

2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Thursday 18th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr John Baron (Basildon and Billericay) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House opposes the disbandment of the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (2RRF); notes that 2RRF is the only infantry battalion being cut that was not initially due for disbandment on military grounds; further notes that 2RRF was instead caught by the Government’s additional criteria of only one battalion loss per regiment and no deletion of cap-badges, which has resulted in more poorly-recruited Scottish battalions being saved; further notes the social and economic costs of disbandment; and urges the Government to reverse its decision.

I shall start by thanking a few people. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate, and I wholeheartedly thank all Members from both sides of the House who have supported our campaign, especially those who have signed the motion. I also thank the many hundreds of ex-Fusiliers who have participated in the march and lobby today outside Parliament in support of the motion, most of whom have been up since the very early hours of the morning and travelled long distances. Our thanks go to them, and most of them are in the Gallery. We wish them well and thank them for their support. I also thank the many other regiments that volunteered to march with the Fusiliers today. Their kind offer was declined, but their support was very much welcome.

I should perhaps single out one person. It is always unfair to do so, of course, but I would single out Colonel Brian Gorski and his team—they know who they are—for everything that they have done and for their support and tireless efforts. Finally, I thank the Serjeant at Arms and his office; Samantha Howlett, the ticket lady; and everybody else on the parliamentary estate who has engineered an administrative miracle by getting 400-plus Fusiliers into the House today and accommodating them so well.

Why this debate? Needless to say, I am very proud to have served as a Fusilier. As a regiment, we trace our ancestry to the 17th century, and we have won more battle honours than any other regiment in the British Army, including the Guards. We won more Victoria Crosses in the great war than any other regiment, and we completed more operational tours of Northern Ireland than any other regiment.

Looking forward, we perhaps need to remind everyone that the Fusiliers is one of the few regiments to have served in all the recent military campaigns, including both Iraq wars, Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan. Operationally, it is one of the most experienced regiments in the British Army. Our fighting record is second to none—that is undisputed, but it is not the subject of this debate. The subject of the debate is our contention that 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is the only infantry battalion to be cut for non-military reasons as part of the Army 2020 proposals.

We are told that the cuts were based on military logic, notably capability and demographic sustainability, yet answers to written questions, a letter from the Secretary of State and discussions confirm that 2RRF has a better recruitment record than other battalions that have been spared. In fact, in recent years 2RRF has one of the best recruiting records of any battalion, and indeed it was the best recruited battalion when the announcement was made.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

There was one person missing from the list of thank-yous at the beginning of the debate—the hon. Gentleman himself. I thank him for securing the debate and for the campaign that he has led.

This morning, the hon. Gentleman and I presented several petitions to Downing street, including one containing 10,000 signatures of people in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, collated by the Manchester Evening News. Does that not indicate not just the scale of support for the Fusiliers but the unhappiness at the way in which the decision has been made and the unfairness behind it?

[Mr Baron]

I completely agree with the hon. Gentleman. The strength of feeling has been illustrated not just by today’s march but by the number of people who have signed the petitions. There can be no dispute but that feelings run high on the issue, and I thank him and all other Members who have supported the campaign.

Army 2020

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Thursday 5th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hammond]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to warn me not to take advice from the party opposite, and I shall heed his recommendation. It is indeed the case that the public duties incremental company will also have other military duties. It will also be a rotating company; its strength will be found from the other four battalions in the regiment, so nobody will spend their entire military career in the public duties incremental company.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

In regard to the infantry battalions that have been axed, will the Minister explain what he meant when he said that the demographics of those recruitment areas had been looked at? Is he seriously suggesting that the birth rate in our areas cannot sustain our battalions?

[Mr Hammond]

In some cases, yes. The cohort from which the infantry recruits—typically they are men aged between 18 and 24—is set to decline across the UK as a whole by 12% over the next decade. There are specific issues in some specific regional geographies, and there is also a projected change in the composition of that population cohort, including a relative increase in groups in which the Army is not very successful at recruiting at the moment. There are therefore some very big challenges ahead.

Armed Forces Day

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Tuesday 19th June 2012 Westminster Hall

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to be here under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, to make a brief contribution to this debate to mark Armed Forces day. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Alex Cunningham) on securing the debate, which is greatly to his credit.

Two years ago, as a new MP, I chose to make my maiden speech on the defence section of the Queen’s Speech so that I could pay tribute to one of my constituents, Corporal Harvey Holmes, of 1st Battalion the Mercian Regiment, who had lost his life in Afghanistan just days before. Sadly, he is one of many young people from my area whom we have lost.

Since that speech, I have taken advantage of the many ways that Members can support the armed forces, including becoming secretary of the all-party group on the armed forces, which is so ably chaired by yourself, Mr Gray, and enlisting in the armed forces parliamentary scheme. That scheme has taken me everywhere from the armour centre in Bovington, Dorset to the university officer training corps in London, and from the plains of Canada at the British Army training unit Suffield to current theatres of operation, such as Afghanistan. It is important to mention that such visits are held not because they are enjoyable for MPs, but to increase our familiarity with and understanding of the armed forces at all levels. We receive excellent intelligence and other briefings in Parliament, but it is important to get out and see for ourselves. A message that we might want to send out from the debate today is that there are MPs on both sides of the House who are willing to do that and to support the armed forces in all parts of the job that they do.

If I were to make just one point, it would be that not only are our armed forces an asset to the country in their defence capability, though obviously that is the most important reason we have them, but, more than that, they are important national institutions in their own right. They make a huge contribution to our culture, history and identity, and provide vital opportunities to people from all parts and sections of the country. At a time when the unity of the United Kingdom faces a significant challenge, they are an important pillar of national unity. In the constituent parts of the UK, there is great pride in the extremely strong representation of the north of England, the regions and constituencies such as mine in the armed forces.

We can be extremely proud of the armed forces. In a world where we are always looking for competitive advantage as a nation, they represent something that we do exceptionally well. That does not mean, of course, that there are never any problems or that there are not things that we could do differently. Equally, there are things that our armed forces are right to ask of us. I would like to highlight three principal areas of concern.

First, there is discrimination, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North described in detail. We are all appalled that anyone could abuse a serviceman or woman in uniform—it is appalling that someone could abuse anyone in the street—but we know that it happens. I find it even more concerning that people in uniform have been refused service in a pub, hotel or similar leisure establishment. We need a national, cross-party effort to stamp that out, and if it requires new legal protections and legislation, we should be willing to bring that forward. I would vote for it, as I am sure many other Members would.

Secondly, not all discrimination is overt, as we should continue to recognise. Sometimes how we run our society produces institutional problems for service personnel because of the different way that their lives are structured. We have heard in the debate that such problems include everything from getting credit at the bank to getting a mobile phone contract and problems accessing health care and schools. There must be a way to solve such problems. I know that a great deal has been done in recent years, but we are clearly not there yet. It is a widely held and shared concern on both sides of the House.

Thirdly, there are concerns around mental health, which the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) ably discussed. We have asked our armed forces to do an exceptional amount over the past decade, particularly the Army. An incredible number of soldiers have served in combat situations. In the years ahead, we must honour that legacy by investing the appropriate amount of money into research into how best to provide for those people to safeguard their long-term well-being.

I briefly want to mention Army redundancy. This is not the debate or the day for any sort of partisan exchange, but the personnel who are leaving the military in the years and months to come will need a great deal of support. Will the Minister say what the Government plan to do to provide the assistance that they need?

Armed Forces day is an important national event because it allows us to show our respect not only to those who have served, but to those who are currently serving. We can highlight a lot of initiatives and good practice around the country that help us do that. In my area, we have ensured that our war memorials are memorials not only to the first and second world wars, but to the people who have lost their lives since those conflicts. That move has been very well received by their families.

Sometimes, things like Armed Forces day are criticised for being part of some sort of creeping militarisation of society. I reject that entirely. The public want an opportunity to show their respect. In my area, they will have that opportunity and it will be well received, although I cannot say that it will be quite on the scale of the “Star Wars”-themed celebrations that my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North described. People appreciate such opportunities. The show of support for such events in recent years is extremely good and it is welcome that people have such chances.

Given that we have the Minister’s attention, I would like to raise one constituency campaign with him. He is aware of it, because I have sent quite a bit of casework to him recently on how we can assist veterans who have lost medals that have been stolen or misplaced. A Ministry of Defence programme allows that to happen, and a certain amount of evidence obviously needs to be provided, but for some, the level of bureaucracy required is a little too much. Could more effort be made to give veterans a chance to replace their medals, particularly those that have been stolen? It would be extremely well received.

It is a pleasure to speak in Parliament in an event such as this. It is important that a message goes out from Parliament that we are very big supporters of things such as Armed Forces day, that work goes on across all parties to support our armed forces and that we, as parliamentarians, are always available for the armed forces to have dialogue not only with Government, but with Parliament. We have been able to do that through, for example, the all-party group on the armed forces. People should be aware that such work is ongoing and that many of us are very big supporters of the armed forces now and in the years to come, whatever the situation in terms of future conflicts, structures and presentation.